Environmental activists have condemned the rise in scenic “joy trips” aimed at “losing the excitement of travel” passengers.

Seven-hour round-trip tickets from Sydney with Qantas It sold out in 10 minutes, making it one of the fastest-selling flights of all time. Seat prices for the October 10 flight range from $ 787 (£ 607) to $ 3,787 in business class.

With 787 Dreamliners typically used for long international flights, The Great Southern Land of Qantas The flight will fly up to 4,000 feet (1,220 meters) over Queensland, the Northern Territory and New South Wales, giving passengers the opportunity to see Australia’s most famous landmarks, including Uluru, the Great Barrier Reef and Sydney Harbor.

Announcement of the promises journey It will “reignite the joy of flying,” adding, “From the skies, there are no restrictions on borders.”

Qantas is not the first airline to offer leisure flights in an effort to offset the financial losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Taiwanese airline EVA launched last month Hello Kitty themed journey Which took off from Taipei airport and landed there three hours later. Japan Airlines ANA plans to operate two 90-minute “Hawaiian Experience” flights in October thereafter Sightseeing trip in August The subscription was greatly oversubscribed. And Singapore Airlines It mentioned that it plans to launch flights without a destination By the end of October.

Climate activists have been quick to denounce the trend and reject Qantas’ promise that her flight will be carbon-free. “We have to turn our attention to the fact that aviation cannot be emissions-free anytime soon,” said Mark Carter of Campaign Group. Free flight Australia. He said passengers on the Qantas flight would increase their annual emissions by 10% in just seven hours “as they stare at the barrier reef they are helping to destroy.”

“Our home is burning. At a time when all industries urgently need to drastically reduce their emissions, Qantas’s claims of“ sustainability ”offsetting its flight emissions are a scam that allows its emissions to continue on the back of buying cuts from others. It’s like agreeing to pour a bucket of Gasoline for the burning house for every bucket of water you throw. “

“I understand why they’re doing this – but it’s really crazy – a trip to anywhere is just emissions for it,” said Anna Hughes, sister campaign manager, Flight Free UK. “If this is the community that we’ve built, where we’re addicted to flying, then we have a serious problem.” “.